Relentless Lord Read Online Free PDF

wrong. I do like to flirt.” He tossed her a wink. “But I have not done half the things people have claimed.”
    “I admit I find that hard to believe.”
    He shrugged. “For the most part, I enjoy the notoriety. It is amusing to see what people will believe about you with no actual proof. But for some reason, I would rather you know the truth.”
    Hannah couldn’t be sure he wasn’t just saying what he thought she’d like to hear.
    “Which is…?” she prompted, curious about him despite herself.
    “I am not the scoundrel and libertine everyone makes me out as.”
    “Hmm,” she responded with a noncommittal sound.
    He laughed. “I can see you are unconvinced. I suppose I should not be surprised.”
    They lapsed into a sort of uneasy silence for several minutes as the terrain they walked tilted upward and grew rocky and uneven enough that some concentration was required.
    After Lord Whitely assisted her with climbing over several groupings of boulders, which she honestly could have leapt over far easier on her own, she finally paused to ask him, “Are you sure we are heading in the right direction?”
    Her hand was still in his after he had hoisted her to the top of a particularly large outcropping of rock. His other hand rested on the small of her back. It was a rather inappropriate position, she realized now that she took a moment to think about it. Of course, she had the excuse that she was unaccustomed to all the rules and limitations regarding casual physical contact amongst men and women of the upper classes. Such would not be his excuse, however.
    “Most definitely,” he replied with a hearty grin.
    Hannah knew she should pull away, her uncle’s voice in the back of her mind screamed at her for her loose manner.
    But Whitely’s eyes were so blasted green, and his hand at her back and the other holding hers were so warm and strong. And his lips were a ridiculously pleasant shape, as were his shoulders and legs and hands and face. Everything about him was quite agreeable, actually. Not just his appearance, which in truth was a few steps beyond such a mediocre adjective, but also the way he talked to her. Like she was a real person.
    As they stood there, balanced together on the top of the rock, she felt suddenly lightheaded and confused.
    “Do you hear water?”
    Hannah blinked.
    He turned and squinted into the sun, throwing his face into sharp profile. She found herself distracted by the line of his jaw and the shape of his ear.
    “Yes, I see it. Come on.”
    Without warning, he jumped to the ground and clasped his hands around her waist to lift her down after him. Then he clutched her hand in his as he practically dragged her along the trail, twisting around more rocks and leaping ditches formed by water running from the higher ground.
    Hannah couldn’t help but laugh at his obvious enthusiasm. She grasped her skirts to lift them out of the way as she leapt agilely after him.
    “Where on earth are you leading me?” she questioned good-naturedly. “What did you see?”
    “This,” he answered as he stopped and pulled her up alongside him.
    Hannah followed his sparkling gaze to the stunning sight of a crystalline pool of water trapped by a formation of boulders and fed by a stream of water tumbling down a rock wall. The water reflected the bright sunshine with watercolor hues of blue, green and gold. It was picture perfect.
    “What on earth,” she murmured as she stepped closer to the edge. The pool was quite deep and big enough to hold perhaps five men comfortably. The water, so clear and bright, looked unbelievably refreshing.
    She glanced around them and realized for the first time that they had been slowly making their way up into the hills. The path going back the way they had come sloped slowly downward and the path ahead only went up. She didn’t recall anyone mentioning such an incline on the way to the picnic spot.
    A forest-green coat dropped to the rocks at her side. With a start,